


Tied Down

by Northern_Lady



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alien Biology, Alternate Universe, Desire, F/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mild Smut, One Shot, past sexual violence, tied-up Loki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:08:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28252917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Northern_Lady/pseuds/Northern_Lady
Summary: In this Marvel AU Nebula struggles with a mating cycle, and Loki might have a solution.
Relationships: Loki/Nebula (Marvel)
Kudos: 22





	Tied Down

**Author's Note:**

> I know it’s a weird premise. And finding a way to conclude this story was difficult but it is what it is.

Nebula nearly growled when she heard the knocking on her door. She had been pacing the room for hours despite knowing that pacing would give her no relief. 

Nebula wrenched the door open to find a dark haired stranger standing there. He was handsome, dressed in leather, and smiling charmingly. 

“Who the hell are you?” she demanded.

“My name is Loki, Prince of Asgard. Thanos sent me.” 

“He did what?” She grabbed a knife from atop her dresser and brandished it. 

Loki raised his hands in surrender. “I assure you. I mean no harm. Thanos said I must prove myself if I intend to serve him and that I was to visit his daughter Nebula and assist her with a problem. I was given no further details. I assume either you plan to fight me or else there is some mission to be carried out?” 

Nebula’s mouth fell open. Thanos apparently knew why she had locked herself in her room for the past three days and this was his solution? 

“Fine,” she hissed, lowering the dagger and stepping aside from the doorway. “You may come in and you will sit in that chair,” she pointed with the knife at a chair in the corner of her room. “And you will remain there for one hour so that Thanos believes that we have both done as he required and then you will leave.” 

Loki entered the room looking briefly confused but he did as bidden and sat down in the indicated chair. Nebula picked up a second knife for her other hand and resumed pacing. 

“Perhaps if you could tell me why Thanos sent me here, I could be of use?” Loki said. 

“Did I say you could speak?” She threw one of the knives in his direction and it hit the wall near his head. Nebula waited, on edge to see if he would take the weapon and fight her. She would kill him if he did. 

“This whole ordeal would be a lot simpler if you would explain to me what is going on,” Loki said, ignoring the knife as if she hadn’t thrown it. “You seem rather frustrated. Perhaps I can help?” 

Perhaps he could help. Nebula tried not to look at him as she leaned close enough to remove her knife from the wall and continue pacing. He was handsome and he was muscular and so far he had done nothing to belittle or humiliate her. 

“You can’t,” she told him. “No one can.” 

“Well, Thanos seemed to believe otherwise. I doubt he was lying,” Loki argued. 

“I thought I told you not to speak!” 

“As a matter of fact you didn’t.” 

“I am telling you now. Shut up!” Nebula insisted. 

Nebula continued to pace the room. It wasn’t helping. The proximity of the handsome Asgardian was only making the entire thing worse. Every year it was like this for six weeks. Sometimes she hated being Luphomoid as much as she hated being a cyborg. The yearly mating cycle of her people was insanely distracting and having a man in her quarters was even more so. But she didn’t trust him. She couldn’t trust him far enough for that. The last few years she had locked herself away for as long as she possibly could and Thanos had been angry at her level of distraction. She had failed a mission twice because she could think of nothing but her most urgent need, sex. But locking herself in her room was far safer than ever giving any man that sort of power over her again. 

“If I may…?” Loki spoke after several minutes had passed. 

“You may not!” She hissed. 

“Will you at least tell me why I am here?” He continued. “I think we both have an interest in keeping Thanos happy. It would be much simpler to do that if I knew what was going on.” 

“I am luphomoid. Are you familiar with Luphos?” 

“Not really.” 

She shook her head. She couldn’t tell him that he had been sent here to share her bed and end her distraction so that she would be useful to Thanos again. 

“I can hazard a guess.” He continued. “You’re experiencing some sort of biological condition unique to your people. I was sent here to keep you company. To end it.” 

Nebula stopped moving and let out a gasp. She spun on her heel to face him, both daggers at the ready. 

He raised his hands in surrender. “You needn’t worry. I will remain in this chair as you asked. But I imagine that remaining here will not solve your problem and Thanos will be unhappy that you can not serve him yet.” 

“I don’t care. I will not…” she couldn’t get out the words. “Never again…” 

His features softened. “Someone hurt you.” He said, understanding her predicament. 

“It was years ago. I have locked myself away each year ever since. Thanos doesn’t like it though. He says I am weak and useless.” 

“I doubt that.” 

“It’s true. I will remain useless for nearly six weeks unless…” she shook her head. “Unless I do something about it and I can’t do that.” 

“I may have a solution,” Loki said, somewhat bemused. 

“What solution?” She doubted he had anything of use to offer. 

“You could tie me up. I can’t hurt you if I am tied up. There would be no danger. Your problem could be solved and mine.” 

Nebula let out a gasp. Somehow the idea of this man tied up was more than a little appealing. She wondered why she hadn’t thought of it herself. 

“I can’t,” she said, frozen with worry that it was all some trick. He seemed the sort of man to play tricks. What if he freed himself? 

“Come now? I know you want to. I can see it on your face.” He leaned forward in the chair, removing both his jacket and tunic and leaned back, shirtless and smiling. “If I am wrong, I’ll put this back on.” 

“No. Leave it off.” The decision was made in that moment. Nebula opened a cabinet in her room where she kept more weapons and found a thin but very strong length of cable. 

Loki allowed himself to be tied to the chair with his hands behind his back. She tied his legs to the chair legs and he watched with barely concealed amusement as she tightened the knots. 

“Is it tight enough?” She asked him, not truly expecting an honest answer. 

“Oh most definitely,” he said. “I am your prisoner now.” 

Nebula dimmed the lights in the room before removing her own clothes. She unlaced his breeches and sat astride him. The rest was a blur. She enjoyed the sensation of her skin against his chest, the feel of him inside her, and desperation for relief from her engorged and swollen parts made her movements frantic. In only a few thrusts she felt the chair begin to tip backwards and then stop. Loki had freed his arm and caught the rail of her bed to keep them from falling. He pulled the chair back onto four legs and let his arm drop to his side. 

In all too short a time, relief came and Nebula felt her body pulsate with climax. She slumped forward against Loki and realized that both his hands were resting on her hips. She lifted her head. 

“You were free this whole time?” 

He grinned. “I wasn’t going to just let a stranger tie me up, no matter how beautiful she might be.” 

“You tricked me,” she said, irritated but intrigued. He had called her beautiful. He must be an idiot. 

“You were afraid I would hurt you. I didn’t harm you at all. In fact I think you rather enjoyed yourself. I don’t see the problem.” 

Nebula climbed off of him and reached for her clothes. “I guess there isn’t one.” 

Loki tied up his breeches and pulled on his tunic. “Good, glad I could help.” 

***

In the space of a year Nebula grew even more hateful of Thanos than before. Gamora had managed to escape him but she had not. And then, if her problems weren’t bad enough already, the season of needing a mate returned to her. She had locked herself in her room aboard Sanctuary for nearly ten days and had been taking sedatives to try and sleep through her current cycle. They weren’t working. She slept for a few hours to a time and then woke with the aid of her nanites. 

Nebula very nearly tore the door off the hinges when she opened it in response to the knock. And there he was, Loki stood there looking as bemused as he had the last time she had seen him a year earlier.

“Someone told me you have been locked in here for ten days,” he told her. “I thought I might offer my assistance.” 

“Did Thanos send you?” She was angry to think that he might have. Thanos saw her biological needs as weakness but sending someone to alleviate her needs was somehow humiliating. 

“No. In truth I have been aboard a Chitauri ship for months and months and had hoped to see you when I returned here. I came on my own.” 

“Come in,” Nebula stepped back and closed the door behind him when he entered. 

“Do you need me to be tied up this time because I promise, I will not harm you.” 

“I know,” she said, nearly convinced that it was true. 

“Then…” he took a step closer and kissed her. 

Nebula hadn’t been expecting a kiss. She hadn’t expected any of this. Before she could even begin to think straight their clothes were stripped off and she was in her bed beneath him and he was thrusting into her with as much wild abandon as she herself felt. 

When it was over he turned them onto their sides and he hugged her. Nebula couldn’t remember ever being held like this in all her life. The sensation was overwhelming and she found that she didn’t want to leave, not ever. She hadn’t intended to fall asleep but somehow she did and she did so without fear that Loki would hurt her. 

Nebula woke some time later and Loki was still with her, still holding her. 

“I didn’t think you’d still be here,” she said with confusion. 

“I’m not in any hurry to leave the company of a beautiful woman,” he commented, moving his hand to rest on her bare hip. 

“I’m not exactly a woman though, am I?” She said bitterly. “Not with so much metal.” She drummed the fingers of her artificial hand against his chest. 

“No, you’re definitely still a woman. Your lips are soft,” he kissed her gently. “Your breasts are full and shapely.” He brushed a finger across her nipple. “And when I am inside you, you are wet and warm. You are as much a woman as any I have ever met.” 

She wanted to ask if he had met many women or if he charmed them equally as well when he brought them to bed but she was too distracted by his kisses to say anything at all. The time spent in her bed that morning was far less rushed than before and it was more gentle than she had known it could be. 

They remained in the bed a while longer and when they had finished they stayed there openly cuddling. 

“I am to be aboard Sanctuary for nearly a month before Thanos sends me off in search of his tesseract. While I’m here, can I return to see you again?” Loki asked her. 

“You may,” Nebula agreed. She liked the idea of seeing more of him. 

***

The Guardians were unaware of Nebula’s needs as a Luphomoid. She didn’t have a room of her own aboard the ship here, only a bunk with a sliding panel door. It had been just a year since she had last seen Loki. She had been seeing him every year since she had escaped Thanos and gone to Asgard looking for him. He had revealed his disguise as Odin and had brought her to his bed and seen her through another cycle. He had invited her to stay longer and she had stayed with him in disguise nearly four months. In that time she learned to truly enjoy his company and even learned to love him. Then Thor had arrived and foiled Loki’s entire disguise. So the next year, when he came and found her it was a complete surprise. They had fought about him leaving and he had given her a beacon to reach him anywhere. Every year she resisted the idea of calling for him, knowing he would leave in the end. And every year she sent for him anyway. Now, among her crew mates, she didn’t know how she would manage this cycle. For the moment she had closed herself inside her bunk, gritted her teeth, and hoped to not go insane with the wait. 

“Nebula?” Quill was knocking on her bunk panel. “You’ve been in there for like three days. When are you coming out?” 

“I can’t come out. I have a condition,” she told him with frustration. 

“What sort of a-“ Quill began but was interrupted. 

“Is she coming?” Rocket asked, having just arrived. 

“She says she has a condition,” Quill said with confusion. 

“Oh. That condition.” Rocket said. He had worked with her for the past five years while the others were dust. He did know about her condition. “Better just leave her alone.” 

“No,” Peter protested stubbornly. “Maybe we can help her. What sort of condition does she have?” 

“Not the kind you can help her with,” Rocket said. “Let’s just leave her alone.” 

“Then who can help her?” Peter insisted. “I can’t just leave a member of my crew who needs help and do nothing. What’s wrong with her?” 

“Do not tell him, Rocket!” Nebula shouted from her bunk. 

Rocket sighed. “Probably only Loki can help her.” 

“Loki?” Thor suddenly joined them. “You knew my brother?” 

“Sort of,” Rocket said. “He helped her with this...condition of hers.” 

“Well, perhaps he could help her again. Loki from another timeline does exist somewhere,” Thor pointed out.

“Don’t bother,” Rocket said. “She will send for him when she is ready.” 

It was two days later when Loki arrived and came aboard. Nebula could hear part of the reunion from her bunk. Thor was glad to see his brother and soon informed him that their friend needed his help. 

“Her Name is Nebula,” Thor explained. “She has locked herself away for days and will not tell us why. Rocket was convinced that you could help her.” 

“Oh I can,” Loki said, amusement in his tone. “Where is she?” 

“This way,” Peter led Loki to the bunk room followed by the others and Nebula slid open her panel just a crack when she heard them coming. 

Much to Peter’s surprise, Loki slid the panel open the rest of the way, climbed into her bunk, and closed it again. 

“Dude…?” Quill began, more confused than before. 

Then the sounds began to come from the bunk, heavy breathing, thumping, and moaning. 

“What the hell just happened?” Quill asked. 

“Her people have a mating cycle,” Rocket explained. “Happens every year. She can’t really function this time of year without a mate. Let’s go.” 

“Why didn’t you just say that?” Quill asked as they all made their way back to the cockpit. “Why make it all this Loki magic crap?” 

“Because you guys would have made it weird,” Rocket said. 

“I wouldn’t have made it weird,” Quill argued. “I mean maybe I would have offered to help but if she said no then I would be okay with that. I’m not a monster.” 

“You don’t get it,” Rocket was growing angrier. “A long time ago a man hurt her during one of those mating cycles. Biology is weird though and this time of year it’s very difficult for her to say no to any humanoid male. She knew that the guy a long time ago was dangerous but her needs overpowered her reasoning and in the end he hurt her, really hurt her. After that she tried to lock herself in her room aboard Sanctuary every year just to be safe but that meant she was useless to Thanos and the Mad Titan couldn’t stand that Nebula was of no use to him locked away so he sent Loki to deal with her. Loki did that, just not the way Thanos wanted.” 

“Loki would not have hurt her,” Thor spoke up. “My brother is many things but he is still a prince and would not harm a woman outside of the battlefield.” 

“Exactly,” Rocket agreed. “He didn’t hurt her and she doesn’t trust anyone else to treat her the same.” 

Peter shook his head. “No, she knows that none of the men on this ship would hurt her like that. She just prefers to be with the one she has feelings for. I get it. That’s fair.” 

An hour later Loki and Nebula joined them in the cockpit. Nebula was lacking her leather jacket and Loki’s hair was askew. There was only one seat left available so Loki sat in it and Nebula sat on his lap. Loki had his arms around her and Nebula was curled up against him. No one aboard had ever seen Nebula treat anyone with such affection and Thor had not known Loki to behave in this way with any woman either. The pair of them were stealing kisses when it seemed no one was looking. 

“You two can just go back to the bunk if you need more privacy,” Peter said with annoyance. 

“That’s not necessary,” Loki replied. 

“Good. So does this mean that Nebula is all set to go on our next mission with us?” Peter asked. 

“I am,” Nebula agreed. 

“I could assist you with this mission,” Loki offered. 

“Weren’t you the guy who invaded New York?” Peter asked. “Now you wanna be one of the good guys?” 

“I did what Thanos bid me to do, just as Nebula did, and just as Gamora did,” Loki said, on edge. 

“Fine. We’re going to Xandar to catch a former member of the Black Order who is wanted for murder and theft and a few other things.” Peter explained. 

“Which member?” Nebula asked. 

“A man called Gaius Drake,” Thor answered this time. 

Nebula and Loki began whispering after that and Quill who sat near the front could not hear what they said in the back. “Okay, what’s the big secret? If it’s anything other than pillow talk, spill it. There are no secrets on this crew.” 

“Drake is a man who hurt Nebula a long time ago,” Loki explained. “Do you intend to capture this man alive?” 

“Of course we…” Peter began. “We’re not murderers. Maybe you need to sit this one out, you and Nebula both.” 

“I don’t need that. I am going on this mission,” Nebula spoke up. 

“I go where she goes,” Loki said.

“No you don’t,” Nebula said accusingly.

“Seriously, you guys are starting this fight already?” Rocket said, shaking his head. “Every single year…” he mumbled. 

“Every year I return,” Loki said. “How is that a problem?” 

“I am staying out of this one,” Rocket said. 

“Because every year you leave!” Nebula didn’t hesitate to tell Loki. 

“If it makes you so angry, you don’t have to invite me back,” Loki said. 

“You really are an idiot,” Nebula pulled free of his hug and marched out of the cockpit. 

“Man, that was not cool,” Peter said. “I think she actually cares about you and you just what, abandon her every year?” 

“She doesn’t have to use the beacon and invite me back. I’m sure any of you could minimize her distraction,” Loki said as if it didn’t matter to him in the least. 

“That’s my point exactly,” Peter argued. “She brings you back because she cares about you.” 

“And if my leaving truly hurt her that much, she would find someone else,” Loki protested. 

“I have listened to this bullshit argument for the past five years,” Rocket said, “And I still think you’re a prick. Thanos murdered Nebula’s family, tore her apart and remade her to his liking, and for years no one was even nice to her except for you, and you’re heartless enough to abandon a woman who adores you. After everything you did wrong she still loves you. She’s right. You actually are an idiot.” 

“It’s not that simple,” Loki protested. 

“You know what? I should just destroy that stupid beacon once and for all. Then you’ll have to decide to either stay or leave for good and let her move on. That’s what I should do…” Rocket mumbled. 

“Someone should check on her,” Peter got out of his seat but before he could leave, Loki blocked his path. 

“I’ll check on her.” Loki said. He moved to leave and then he stopped again. “If I did wish to stay for longer, would that be permitted?” 

Peter sighed and then nodded. “If Nebula wants you here then I guess we do too.” 

Loki left the cockpit and Thor followed him out, stepping into his brother’s path before he reached the bunk room. 

“What do you plan to do, brother?” Thor asked him with concern. 

“I think you all have misread the situation. I don’t think Nebula truly wishes me to stay. She values her independence more than realize.” 

“But do you value her?” Thor asked. “She has become an important friend and ally over these past months. And you are still my brother. I hate to see either of you unhappy.” 

“Thor...we live for hundreds of years, you and I. Yes, I have come to care about Nebula over each of the year's cycles but a year isn’t very long for us. It’s the equivalent of having had a few dates, spent a few weekends together as humans would. I care for her but it’s too soon to be serious yet.” 

Thor nodded, it was a sentiment he could understand given how long he had lived. Nebula stepped into the hallway behind them. 

“I don’t know how long I will live,” she said. “Ordinary Luphomoids get about three hundred years. With what Thanos did to me, I might have longer...but I get it. I think that’s what you were trying to tell me last year except now it actually makes sense.” 

Loki sighed with relief. “It isn’t that I don’t care for you…” 

“I know. You wouldn’t have given me the beacon otherwise. How long will you stay?” 

“Long enough to deal with Gaius Drake. And perhaps we should upgrade the beacon so that we can use it to send subspace messages. We could talk anytime that way.” 

“I would like that,” Nebula said, comforted by the notion of being able to talk to him. 

Nebula didn’t know what her future with the Guardians might look like but it was enough to know that Loki at least planned to be a part of it.


End file.
